LIVE - Equinox 8/15/21 - Ultimate Caribbean - It’s finally here!

[aring75]

They were out of the originally suggested champagne, so Marko brought a bottle of Veuve Cliquot Rosé. 
 

Made my day. 
 

[aring75]

1 minute ago, luv2ndhalf said:

Wow!! It will be interesting how today goes! It does look like there are still bar stools out for people to sit… my husband enjoys sitting there and visiting with others~keeping my fingers crossed that you have beautiful weather! Thanks for sharing!

Headed over to the pool in a few. I will try to get a few pictures of the crowd level. 

[Ipeeinthepools]

At  10:45 on the first sea day, here’s what it looks like in the Solarium rium 

[aring75]

3 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

At  10:45 on the first sea day, here’s what it looks like in the Solarium rium 

Wow. 

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, aring75 said:

Headed over to the pool in a few. I will try to get a few pictures of the crowd level. 

So at this point of your cruise, how would you rate the new cruise experience? 

[FLCruiser97]

15 minutes ago, aring75 said:

They were out of the originally suggested champagne, so Marko brought a bottle of Veuve Cliquot Rosé. 
 

Made my day. 
 

OH MY! What a nice substitute.

[tvnewsengineer]

Great review, very entertaining...was on 7/25 Equinox and learned this great hack late in the cruise and saw your omelet pic...In Oceanview when you order an omelet...ask for the fresh egg option. Didn't even know that a choice, always assumed it was fresh eggs, but its not. It made a difference in the taste (not that the original omelet was bad, not at all) just you can taste the fresh eggs vs the egg mix. Enjoy the cruise!

[Spif Barwunkel]

11 hours ago, aring75 said:

Will do! So far, only have two excursions booked. Can’t decide on Aruba & Curaçao. Both of these ports allow you to walk around on your own if you are fully vaccinated, so may or may not book a tour. 
 

Also, the weeks leading up to our cruise only showed 2 or 3 excursions for Dominica as well. But when we boarded, I noticed there are now 8 options. Just FYI. 
 

 

FYI - The interior of Dominica is lush and beautiful. We did a rain forest hike to an embarkation point for river tubing. It was humid and muddy and wet and adventurous. Just like a rain forest should be.

Kind of like an Indiana Jones experience, minus the temple of doom and rolling boulders. An amazing and fun outing if one is in shape and mobile and somewhat daring. Other less strenuous excursions can also provide an enjoyable rain forest adventure.

Edited August 16, 2021 by Spif Barwunkel

[terrydtx]

3 minutes ago, tvnewsengineer said:

Great review, very entertaining...was on 7/25 Equinox and learned this great hack late in the cruise and saw your omelet pic...In Oceanview when you order an omelet...ask for the fresh egg option. Didn't even know that a choice, always assumed it was fresh eggs, but its not. It made a difference in the taste (not that the original omelet was bad, not at all) just you can taste the fresh eggs vs the egg mix. Enjoy the cruise!

The pre scrambled egg mix is the same that many hotels use for their scrambled eggs in their breakfast buffets.   You are so correct fresh eggs make a huge difference.

[aring75]

22 minutes ago, davekathy said:

So at this point of your cruise, how would you rate the new cruise experience? 

Well, it’s only our first full day. But I love the low crowd levels. I can see where some people would miss the crowds and the social interaction. It’s still happening, just on a much smaller level. 
 

We spoke with Marko about crew/staff levels. He said the F&B department is operating at about 50% crew and the ship is at about 60% overall. 
 

I still need to get passenger numbers, but we have not noticed a drop in the level of service, in fact, crew members seem very eager to please. 
 

 

Oh yeah! And thought you should know. It’s still called the Celebrity Today. 😊

The Daily Planner is just the page with the events of the day. 
 

Front Page

 

[cltnccruisers]

13 hours ago, aring75 said:

Dinner tonight. 
 

 

MDR?  Pretty much the same dishes as our last cruise which is fine by us.  Thanks for all you are doing.

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

FYI - The interior of Dominica is lush and beautiful. We did a rain forest hike to an embarkation point for river tubing. It was humid and muddy and wet and adventurous. Just like a rain forest should be.

Kind of like an Indiana Jones experience, minus the temple of doom and rolling boulders. An amazing and fun outing if one is in shape and mobile and somewhat daring. Other less strenuous excursions can also provide an enjoyable excursion.

Back in 1996 on our first cruise with Carnival we had a port stop in Dominica. We did the hike up to the rain forest in the morning and I did a scuba dive in the "Champagne Falls" in the afternoon. The main city however was so run down poor and many streets had open sewers running down the middle. I hope in the last 25 years the city has improved. Carnival was the first cruise line to make Dominica a port stop.

[cltnccruisers]

13 hours ago, aring75 said:

Bread basket. A piece or two might be missing. Mark was hungry. 
 

 

 

Thai Beef Spring Roll

 

 

 

French Onion Soup & Caesar Salad

 

 

 

 

Prime Rib

 

 

Great 1st Night’s Dinner

Sure, blame Mark for the missing bread.  Prime rib looks great.

[aring75]

1 minute ago, cltnccruisers said:

MDR?  Pretty much the same dishes as our last cruise which is fine by us.  Thanks for all you are doing.

Yes. This is in the MDR. Dinner was great. No major hiccups. Our waiter/asst. waiter team seems to still be getting used to each other, but we were still happy overall. 
 

Also, the sommelier was very attentive and suggested a substitute for the Decoy Cab (they were out). 

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, aring75 said:

Well, it’s only our first full day. But I love the low crowd levels. I can see where some people would miss the crowds and the social interaction. It’s still happening, just on a much smaller level. 
 

We spoke with Marko about crew/staff levels. He said the F&B department is operating at about 50% crew and the ship is at about 60% overall. 
 

I still need to get passenger numbers, but we have not noticed a drop in the level of service, in fact, crew members seem very eager to please. 
 

 

Oh yeah! And thought you should know. It’s still called the Celebrity Today. 😊

The Daily Planner is just the page with the events of the day. 
 

Front Page

OK, thanks for the explanation about the Celebrity Today. Maybe it's always been that way and I've never noticed in the past. Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise with us landlocked cruisers. 

[Ipeeinthepools]

While everyone is waiting for aring75’s review here are a few more pictures.

[Ipeeinthepools]

Passenger load seems to be difficult to get for this cruise.   I’m told the target was 1700 but over the last couple of weeks they had a lot of cancellations and the final number was closer to 1300.  It will be interesting to see if aring75 can get more information 

[aring75]

Yep. My pool picture looks pretty much the same. 
 

 

 

It’s crazy. Today is the first sea day. You know that means shoulder-to-shoulder people in the pool. 
 

Maybe people were warned that you’d be sailing with us @Ipeeinthepools  Can’t be too careful with that username. 😂

[cltnccruisers]

3 hours ago, aring75 said:

Breakfast in the MDR this morning. Open from 7:30 am - 9:00 am. 
 

 

 

 

Spinach, tomato, and cheddar omelet. Bacon was a little too crispy but tasted good. 

 

 

Mark had over-medium eggs and corned beef hash. 
 

 

Service was good and there were only three other tables when we arrived at 8:00. We left around 8:40 and there were (maybe) ten occupied tables total.

 

Coffee was…unpleasant. If you have the beverage package, order a specialty coffee. Or just make quick stop at Café al Bacio on the way. 

We always try to breakfast in the MDR but I agree with the coffee.  It has become a tradition for me to hit Cafe` al Bacio early while DW is still lounging in bed.  Except on Reflection where we were about 10 steps from The Hideaway where there was a good coffee/tea station.

Edited August 16, 2021 by cltnccruisers

[terrydtx]

27 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

Passenger load seems to be difficult to get for this cruise.   I’m told the target was 1700 but over the last couple of weeks they had a lot of cancellations and the final number was closer to 1300.  It will be interesting to see if aring75 can get more information 

I wonder how many didn't show because of positive pre cruise Covid tests?

[Ipeeinthepools]

29 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Yep. My pool picture looks pretty much the same. 
 

 

 

It’s crazy. Today is the first sea day. You know that means shoulder-to-shoulder people in the pool. 
 

Maybe people were warned that you’d be sailing with us @Ipeeinthepools  Can’t be too careful with that username. 😂

 

Maybe that’s why everyone is just standing in the corner of the pools.  Here I thought it was social distancing 

[cltnccruisers]

9 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I wonder how many didn't show because of positive pre cruise Covid tests?

It would be interesting to see the reasons.  Positive test, no test at all, scared off by a few on board positives or mask rumors?  I'm not complaining about the reduced numbers at all.  🙂

[terrydtx]

10 minutes ago, cltnccruisers said:

It would be interesting to see the reasons.  Positive test, no test at all, scared off by a few on board positives or mask rumors?  I'm not complaining about the reduced numbers at all.  🙂

I would like to see around 1300 on our Equinox cruise next week, will make the cruise almost like being on a small luxury line.

[stunned]

Loving this review.

 

A lot of airlines have cancelled flights, so flights, positive tests or not being vaccinated at all and scared of the hurricanes lurking out at sea could cut some of the passenger numbers. Would be interesting to know, but we never will.

[cltnccruisers]

19 hours ago, aring75 said:

I have most everything unpacked. I don’t feel like I can relax until the stuff is put away. Storage is adequate. I’m one of those people who probably packs too much, but I like choices. And my own shampoo. 
 

 

 

 

 

Brought the magnetic hooks. Love. 
 

 

 

Thanks much for the magnetic hook reminder.  We always think of those when we get home which does no good.  Just hopped on Amazon and ordered 8.